Sweat Bee on Prickly Pear Cactus

A native North American solitary bee foraging on eastern prickly pear cactus. Often called the "forgotten pollinators" native bees and other native pollinating insects receive little media and scientific attention compared to the non-native honey bee. The prickly pear cactus is an endangered species in Ontario. Make sure to purchase native plants for your garden from reliable, locally sourced native plant nurseries, and never collect plants from the wild (bee: Apoidea: Halictidae: "Agapostemon texanus"; plant: Cactaceae: "Opuntia humifusa", Species at Risk in Ontario).